Summer is the perfect time to acquaint yourself with the newest addition to our little family of wines from the Savoie: Dolin Vermouths.

Dolin has been making vermouth in Chambéry, France since 1821. Vermouth de Chambéry is actually the only AOC for vermouth in France, and Dolin is the last remaining independent Vermouth de Chambéry producer. Dolin starts with a light base white wine (no more than 10% alcohol) and then fortifies with sugar and infuses it with dozens of the local Alpine plants that grow in the hills above Chambéry. (more…)

One evening in December, I found myself under the weather but with an unbreakable date. I had promised to take a fellow cheesemonger on his first visit to Drink. For anyone who hasn’t been, Drink is an elegant bar in the Fort Point neighborhood of Boston with highly skilled bartenders and no drink list. One orders by indicating an ingredient or ingredients they’re in the mood for – for me, that often means something like Bourbon or grapefruit juice. Then, the bartenders make cocktail suggestions based on these clues.

All I could muster up this particularly cold evening was,”I have a sore throat.” A few minutes later, head bartender, John Gertsen emerged from the back with a steaming pot of negus. A warm, sweet and comforting blend of port, hot water, sugar and lemon, negus was a popular drink in Victorian times, and is mentioned in more than one of Charles Dickens’ novels. In Dombey and Son, Mr. Feeder, “after imbibing several custard cups of negus, began to enjoy himself.” Just as I did after imbibing my several wineglasses full of negus at Drink (I also slept like a baby that night)! (more…)